Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s decision to require all pre-teen girls to be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus (HPV) that is one cause for cervical cancer has drawn fire from conservative political groups, parents and consumer advocates.

HPV is a sexually transmitted virus and requiring 11-year-olds to be vaccinated the same way they get shots for measles and other diseases is jarring. Add to that the political intrigue: It turns out that Mr. Perry’s former chief of staff is a lobbyist for Merck & Co., the only manufacturer of the drug that has been shown to prevent the virus — Gardasil.

Do pre-teen girls to have this vaccine promote premarital sex?

Conservative groups think inoculating little girls against sexually transmitted disease is a tacit acceptance — or encouragement — of immoral behavior. But right-wingers aren’t the only ones concerned.

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ATLANTA – Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is pledging $10 million to the American Cancer Society, the second-largest gift in the organization’s history, to help provide one-on-one support for cancer patients in U.S. hospitals, the American Cancer Society said Wednesday.

The society said the money will help it develop 50 new sites for its Patient Navigator Program. One of the first three sites was in AstraZeneca’s U.S. base of Wilmington, Del., at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care.

“While there are many uncertainties associated with cancer,” said Richard C. Wender, the national volunteer president of the American Cancer Society, “the Patient Navigator Program can relieve some of these anxieties by providing personalized support and education for the needs of each patient and their families.”

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Debra Brewer, a women is to sue the Ministry of Defence for £75,000, claiming that hugging her dockyard worker father caused her cancer.

Debra Brewer has been diagnosed with the asbestos-related condition mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer. The 47-year-old’s father, Phillip Northmore, worked as a lagger at Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth for five years in the 1960s when she was a child.

An inquest into his death in August 2006 found he had died from small cell lung cancer, which was linked to asbestos.

Mrs Brewer said she remembered he would always arrive home from work covered in dust but as a young child she never imagined that as she played with her dad, the dust he was coated in could be life-threatening.

John Messham, industrial disease specialist at Debra’s solicitor Bond Pearce, said: “Mesothelioma causes a great deal of suffering to its victims and their families. Asbestos diseases are potentially fatal and so it vital that such cases are dealt with efficiently but also with sympathy and compassion.

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The American Journal of Preventive Medicine issued a report that stated American cigarette warning labels are the smallest and have the least detail printed, making them the least effective.

Other countries such as Canada, Australia, and Britain have warnings that are much larger and include more health information appearing on both sides of the packages. Some countries even have very graphic warning labels printed on their cigarettes.

A study was conducted to see if these larger, more informed labels could make a difference. The study included 15,000 adult smokers in the U.S., U.K, Canada, and Australia to test the effectiveness of the warning labels used in those four countries between 2002 – 2005. The research did suggest that U.S. smokers might benefit from large graphic warnings on the packages. The U.S. smokers were least likely to notice their American labeling. The researchers also concluded that the U.S. warnings are poor compared to those in other countries. It is suggested that the U.S. labels need a makeover and putting quit-smoking resources on cigarette packages might also help.

The Honourable Tony Clement, Minister of Health, today announced that Canada’s New Government would contribute $150,000 for the training of cancer specialists in Tanzania.

The Minister’s announcement came during a visit to the Ocean Road Cancer Institute in Dar es Salaam, which is Tanzania’s only cancer treatment centre. With a population of 38.3 million people, and an estimated 20,000 new cases of cancer every year, patient demand for cancer therapy in Tanzania far exceeds available services.

“By collaborating with the international community and the private sector, Canada is making a difference abroad by contributing to the training of cancer specialists in Tanzania,” said Minister Clement.

The one-time contribution of $150,000 will support professional training for cancer care and capacity building in Tanzania. The funding will be provided through the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT), an initiative of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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Till few years back, Heart disease was the leading cause of death in the state of Hawaii. Now it comes a close second to life threatening Cancer. Cancer is the top killer of Hawaii residents, according to the state Department of Health.

Cancer and heart disease together killed half of the 8,988 residents who died last year in Hawaii. While heart disease took the lives of 1,258 males and 996 females, cancer claimed 1,177 males and 959 females. Cancer is the leading killer of Hawaii residents ages 45 to 84. Out of all types of cancers, Lung cancer is by far the most lethal form of cancer in Hawaii.

Bacteria that can cause deadly infections in humans and animals have shown promise in treating cancer by “eating” tumors from the inside out.

Two new studies at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have demonstrated that, combined with specially-packaged anti-cancer drugs, the bacterial therapy’s prospects for cancer eradication has dramatically improved.

Boffins conducting the studies, which were carried out on mouse models, found that genetically-modified bacteria called Clostridium novyi-NT (C.novy-NT) have a special taste for oxygen-starved environments much like those found in the core of cancer cell clusters.

“It is not difficult to kill cancer cells. The challenge is killing them while sparing normal cells,” said Bert Vogelstein, M.D., professor and co-director of the Ludwig Center and Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center.

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper is remaining true to a pre-election campaign promise by investing $260 million to set up a new national body aimed at fighting cancer.

Stephen Harper has informed the public over the establishment of the Canadian Partnership against Cancer, which gathers a team of more than 700 cancer experts who will seek effective methods for cancer prevention and treatment.

“Cancer strikes without warning, plays no favorites and touches all of us,” the prime minister said during the announcement, made at Montreal General Hospital.

Calling it a “clearing house” for the latest information on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment, Harper said the new agency could keep 1.2 million Canadians from developing cancer in the next 30 years and prevent more than 400,000 cancer deaths.

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According to a new research, Women who smoke and also carry high levels of the virus associated with cervical cancer are up to 27 times more likely to develop the most common form of cervical cancer compared with uninfected women who also smoke.

Smoking and the human papilloma virus (HPV) have been linked to cervical cancer before. But the new study is the first to look at a possible interplay between heavy smoking and virus levels, said study author Anthony Gunnell, a researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

“The risk for developing pre-malignant cervical cancer increases as HPV load increases,” Gunnell said. “Importantly though, it increases more with increasing HPV (levels) if you smoke than if you don’t.”

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Carbohydrate consumption of Americans has increased over the years and so has the incidence of esophageal cancer. Esophageal adenocarcinoma rose from 2,500 cases per year back in 1973 to nearly 15,000 cases per year in 2001.The study reported by Vijay S. Khiani M.D., of Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, was presented at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting. The investigators found an association between the rising incidence of esophageal cancer in the United States and the increase in U.S. per-capita carbohydrate consumption over the past three decades.

Although the data could not prove a causal link, Dr Khiani noted that a carbohydrate-heavy diet can lead to obesity, which in turn can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). This disease has been linked to a greater likelihood for developing Barrett’s esophagus, a precursor to lower-esophageal cancer.

Dr. Khiani stressed that the study does not support total carbohydrate avoidance, a strategy promoted by some fad diets. The investigators concluded, “This ecological study provides evidence for the hypothesis that excess carbohydrate intake in the U.S. population may partially account for the increased trend of incidence rates of adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. It is possible that obesity resulting from excess carbohydrate intake many be an intermediate link”.